Ukraine is hesitant to disclose plans for its anticipated spring counteroffensive against Russia to its Western allies, owing to worries that such information could fall into the wrong hands, according to a May 2 Politico report.
European officials interviewed by Politico admitted that Kyiv’s fears were due to the recent disclosure of classified Pentagon documents, allegedly leaked by Massachusetts National Guard soldier Jack Teixeira.
The leaked Pentagon documents, whose veracity has not been officially confirmed but generally assumed to be true, assessed Russian and Ukrainian combat readiness, casualties, loopholes in Kyiv’s defenses, placed Kyiv officials “on high alert,” the report asserted.
Politico sources shared that, although Ukraine is probably exchanging some intelligence with its Western allies, Kyiv is trying its best to remain mum about impending battlefield plans.
One unnamed Ukrainian lawmaker supported the claim made by Politico, confirming with the media outlet that “there are only a few people in the country that know the plan.”
On the other hand, a U.S. defense official told Politico there had been no evidence that Kiev is keeping details from Washington, stating that the level of bilateral information sharing remained unchanged. The same official elaborated that Ukraine had been “stingy with information from the very beginning” when it came to its battle plans.
Alluding to Kyiv’s seeming reservations in sharing information, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby attempted to downplay the report, saying that Ukraine’s silence before the offensive was not surprising, and Kyiv had no “obligation to notify us or tell us in advance.”
Days after news of the Pentagon leaks surfaced in mainstream-media outlets, CNN reported that the revelations had compelled Ukraine to tweak some of its military plans. On the public front, however, Kyiv tried to disregard the revelations as “Photoshop and virtual fake leaks.”
Amid numerous speculations of Kyiv’s upcoming counteroffensive plans, Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov declared this week that his country’s military was on the “home stretch” in terms of preparations. Although Western officials have asserted that Kyiv is well-equipped for a successful operation, the U.S. military has privately doubted Ukraine’s ability to overcome Russian defensive lines.
Kyiv has thus far denied Moscow’s claims that the former tried to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack on the Kremlin in the early hours of May 3.
“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow, we fight on our territory, we’re defending our villages and cities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared at a press conference in Helsinki, after meeting with the leaders of Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. “We don’t have, you know, enough weapons for this.”
“We have no information about the so-called night attacks,” Zelensky’s press secretary Sergey Nikiforov reiterated to BBC News Russian, positing that his country has been focused on “liberating its own territory, not attacking other nations.”
Zelensky aide Mykhailo Podolyak blamed the drone attack on “the guerilla activities of local resistance forces.” Similarly, he maintained that Ukraine was staging “an exclusively defensive war and [did] not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
Two drones, which were eventually downed by electronic warfare measures over the Kremlin grounds, were involved in the recent incident and were supposedly targeting Putin’s residence, based on a statement published by the Russian presidential office later in the same day.
The Kremlin called the attack a “pre-planned terrorist action” and an attempt on Putin’s life. It said that it reserved the right to retaliate by any means it considers appropriate at a time and place of its choosing.
“We consider this a preplanned terrorist action and an attempt against the Russian president,” a message from the Kremlin read. It noted that the incident happened “ahead of Victory Day and the parade on May 9, when foreign guests plan to be present.”
Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that the Russian president was not in the Kremlin at the time of the incident. Consequently, no one was harmed, reports indicated.
Additionally, senior Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodin urged Moscow to use any weapons required to get rid of the “Nazi regime” in Kyiv.
“The terrorist act against the president is an attack on Russia,” Volodin, who serves as State Duma chairman, declared in a Telegram post.
“Zelensky, who gave orders to carry out terrorist attacks, now stands on a par with other international terrorists,” he added. Volodin claimed that the draconian Kyiv regime was as dangerous as groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The Russian lawmaker further stated that Ukraine’s “criminal methods” have become evident to the entire world, blasting it for crimes including nuclear blackmail, the murder of public and political figures, the sabotage of civilian infrastructure, and attempts on Putin’s life.
“The Kyiv terrorist regime, having seized an entire state, threatens the security of Russia, Europe, and the whole world,” the Duma official warned, while singling out Western military aid to Zelensky’s government as “direct accomplices” of terrorist activities.
Declaring that there “can be no negotiations with the Zelensky regime” following the attempted attack on the Kremlin, Volodin pledged that Russian lawmakers will “demand the use of weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kyiv terrorist regime.”
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev also likened Ukraine to Nazi Germany after the Kremlin drone incident. The vice-chair of the national security council spurred Moscow on to retaliate against Zelensky.
“After today’s terrorist act, there are no options left but the physical removal of Zelensky and his clique,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram.
“We don’t need him to sign [their] unconditional surrender. Hitler, as it is known, didn’t sign his either. There will always be someone like Admiral Doenitz to sit in as president,” he added, referring to the Nazi officer who officially replaced Hitler after the latter killed himself in April 1945.
Previously, Medvedev also promoted the “mass destruction of personnel and military equipment” and a “maximum military defeat” of Kyiv once the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive begins, explaining that the “Nazi regime in Kyiv” must be “completely dismantled” and “former Ukraine” totally demilitarized.
For some time, Russia has been blaming Kyiv for allegedly plotting several high-profile crimes on its territory, such as the assassination of pro-Putin journalist Darya Dugina last August.
Although Kyiv has denied any complicity in these incidents, even Kyiv’s supporters in Washington think the Ukrainians were guilty of the Dugina murder, criticizing the Zelensky regime for its impetuousness.
Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict in February 2022, Kyiv has repeatedly targeted various Russian regions bordering Ukraine, such as Bryansk, Belgorod, and Kursk, with drone and missile attacks. Such strikes have adversely impacted energy infrastructure and residential areas, causing civilian deaths and injuries, as well as the destruction of property.
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With a background in international relations and history, Angeline Tan enjoys writing about current affairs and socio-cultural trends. She is a contributor to The New American.
